Siddaramaiah's party, the Congress, is facing opposition accusations of "dynastic politics".
Family relations between candidates are not important for voters, it is more a matter of "acceptance" Karnataka
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told NDTV today. Mr Siddaramaiah's party, the Congress, has been facing renewed opposition accusations of dynastic politics after it announced a list of 218 candidates on Sunday.
On the list, there are five contestants whose close family members, mostly a parent, is contesting.
The Chief Minister, whose son Yatheendra Siddaramaiah is also in fray, pointed out that only four of the five are
new comers. "They are accepted by the voters in that constituency. They want them to contest. It is not about father-son or father-daughter. It is not correct," Mr Siddaramaiah said.
SS Mallikarjun, the son of former minister Shamanur Shivashankarappa -- is already on Mr Siddaramaiah's cabinet, handling the horticulture portfolio.
Others on the list are law minister TB Jayachandra and his son Santhosh Jayachandra, home minister Ramalinga Reddy and his daughter Sowmya Reddy, housing minister M Krishnappa and his son Priya Krishna.
Asked about the
inclusion of his son Yatheendra Siddaramaiah on the list, Mr Siddaramaiah said, "Our people accepted him, they want him to contest".
Yatheendra Siddaramaiah, a doctor by profession,
stepped into politics after the death of his elder brother Rakesh Siddaramaiah in 2016.
The 39-year-old, who was in charge of taking care of his father's constituency, had died suddenly of multi-organ failure at a hospital in Belgium.
"Two years ago, when my son was alive, I told the people of Varuna I will not contest from this constitutency and it will be the last election.... my (younger) son was not at all interested in politics," Mr Siddaramaiah said, adding that the people "are happy over there with development works".
The BJP has repeatedly targetted the Congress since Sunday on what it calls "dynastic politics". "There have times when many potential leaders have been denied seats by Congress as the party tends to favour its own clan... This "legacy" of the Congress, Mr Gowda said, has been followed since the days of Jawaharlal Nehru," BJPs' Sadananda Gowda has said.